February Revolution

The February Revolution was the first phase of the Russian Revolution, occurring from 8 to 15 March 1917 when striking factory workers, starving civilians, women's rights activists, and defecting soldiers overthrew the czarist government of Nicholas II of Russia in Petrograd. The revolution began on 8 March 1917 when demonstrators celebrating International Women's Day were joined by strikers, and they protested the shortage of bread. By 11 March, the demonstrators numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and most of the soldiers in the Petrograd garrison deserted to the demonstrators rather than suppress the protests. Czar Nicholas II abdicated in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia, on 15 March 1917, but the Grand Duke refused to take the throne until a new constitution was enacted. Nicholas was held under house arrest at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, and Prince Georgy Lvov and the State Duma formed the Russian Provisional Government at the Tauride Palace; in the same building, the Petrograd Soviet was proclaimed by communist workers. The revolution succeeded in overthrowing the autocracy ruled by Czar Nicholas, but it would leave Russia in a debilitated state as it fought the German Empire during World War I and internal factions during the ensuing "Russian Revolution" era.